Every month, CTV Calgary partners up with Volunteer Calgary to bring you stories about outstanding volunteers.
This month's Volunteer In Profile says the rewards of volunteering far exceed anything he has.
Eighty two-year-old Howard Christensen pulls up to Neighbourlink headquarters everyday to report for duty.
He doesn't get paid to pick up and deliver hampers to low-income families in the community, but he enjoys it.
When he first signed up as a volunteer six years ago, he was a board member. But Howard prefers to hit the road and deliver hampers himself.
"I think it's important that we not only have that love towards one another, but we show it, too," he says.
Neighbourlink's flagship program is called I C U 2 which stands for infants and children under two.
Hampers containing essential baby items are donated to families that have trouble making ends meet.
Volunteers like howard are a gift to the organization, and the families that require the service.
"If they don't have a vehicle and let's say they're a single mother with a six-month-old and a two-year-old and they need to take a bus down here and they have a stroller and a toddler. They come here and they are lugging diapers and formula. So having volunteers able to deliver these items to them is a gift," says Leanne Alexander, manager of volunteer resources.
To nominate someone for Volunteer in Profile, visit Volunteer Calgary's website at www.volunteercalgary.ab.ca.
